Equatorial Guinea - The African Mirror

Jul

2021

UK sanctions African leader over “lavish lifestyle” spending

BRITAIN has sanctioned the son of Equatorial Guinea's president for misappropriating millions of dollars which London said was spent on luxury mansions, private jets and a $275,000 glove worn by Michael Jackson. Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said Teodoro Obiang Mangue, who is also vice president of Equatorial Guinea, had participated in "corrupt contracting arrangements and soliciting bribes, to fund a lavish lifestyle inconsistent with his official salary as a government minister". The Equatorial Guinea government did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Reuters. Britain said Obiang had bought a $100 million mansion in Paris, a $38 million…

Jun

2021

By The African Mirror

Equatorial Guinea buys 500 000 vaccines

COVID-19

EQUATORIAL Guinea has purchased 500,000 COVID-19 vaccine doses from China's Sinopharm, according to its health ministry. "At the Beijing airport, the 500,000 doses... to continue the vaccination campaign are ready to be shipped," the health ministry said on Twitter, adding a video of crates labelled "Sinopharm" being loaded from a semi-truck. The tweet did not specify the price Equatorial Guinea had agreed to pay for the shots. The ministry could not be reached for further comments. China sent 100,000 doses of Sinopharm's vaccine to Equatorial Guinea in February, as part of a series of donations to African countries struggling to…

Mar

2021

By The African Mirror

President promises justice as Equatorial Guinea mourns 105 blast victims

NEWS

EDWARD MCALLISTER and AARON ROSS Mourners cried out and held up pictures of lost loved ones as Equatorial Guinea held a mass funeral yesterday for the 105 victims of a series of explosions that levelled much of the city of Bata. Soldiers in face masks carried each coffin into Bata’s sports stadium, then laid them out in two lines on the rain-soaked running track. A series of blasts in an army barracks demolished hundreds of buildings, blew out car windows and left residents buried under piles of rubble on Sunday. Hundreds of injured people, many of them children, overwhelmed the…

Mar

2021

By The African Mirror

Dynamite explosions at army base kill 15

NEWS

A series of large explosions at a military base that killed at least 15 people in Equatorial Guinea yesterday were the result of negligence related to the use of dynamite, President Teodoro Obiang Nguema said. Another 500 people were injured in the blasts that rocked the city of Bata. In a statement carried on national television, Obiang called for international support in the recovery effort, adding: "I translate all my support to the people who are affected." Television station TVGE showed teams pulling people from piles of rubble, some of whom were carried away wrapped in bed sheets. A health…

Feb

2021

By The African Mirror

The golden quartet of Afrobasket

SPORT

BOITUMELO RANTAO FORTY games - over 2016 minutes - of blood, sweat and some tears during thrilling action at the African Basketball Championship (Afrobasket) have produced the continent’s top four basketball nations. The qualifying window, which took place in the two cities Monastir, Tunisia and Yaounde Cameroon, produced four teams, reigning Champions Tunisia, Côte d’Ivoire, Nigeria, and Egypt who outclassed their group mates. These four teams have yet to lose a fixture in the six qualifying games played and seek to take their brilliant form into the Afrobasket finals held in Kigali, Rwanda from August 24 to September 5. Tunisia,…

Feb

2021

By The African Mirror

Basketball; Africa’s Best of Best

SPORT

BOITUMELO RANTAO ALAS, the African Basketball Championship (Afrobasket) qualifiers have come to a conclusion. The drama and talent on show intoxicated fans, leaving eyes wanting as we await the Afrobasket finals in Kigali, Rwanda. In the enthusiasm for what is to come, The African Mirror brings you the stand-out performers from the tournament held in Tunisia and Cameroon. Salah Mejri (Tunisia) Mejri’s presence on the floor cannot be understated, defensively and offensively, the Tunisian has been his team’s pivot. If you needed an indication as to how impactful the center has been Tunisia have yet to lose a game throughout…

Dec

2020

By The African Mirror

France wins against Equatorial Guinea in Paris mansion raid lawsuit

NEWS

STEPHANIE VAN DER BERG THE United Nations' highest court has ruled in favour of France in a suit brought by Equatorial Guinea protesting a 2012 raid on a luxury mansion owned by the son of the African country's ruler in downtown Paris. Equatorial Guinea had argued the mansion was part of its diplomatic mission to France and should have been protected by diplomatic immunity, but a 16-judge panel at the International Court of Justice rejected that. The case was seen as a test for the limits of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Immunity, which shields government officials from prosecution abroad.…